Sunday, November 04, 2012

Spending a $100,000 Windfall

If someone handed you $100,000--say you won the lottery or received an inheritance--what would you do with the money? That was the question Americans aged 18 or older were asked in a recent Harris Interactive survey. Here are the answers...

Pay off debt: 59%

Save for a rainy day: 42%

Invest for my retirement: 33%

Go on vacation: 19%

Donate to charity: 18%

Buy a car: 17%

Treat myself: 15%

Buy a house: 13%

Pay for my kids' college: 10%

Go back to school: 6%

Paying off debt was the number-one response of Millennials (55 percent), Gen Xers (73 percent), and Baby Boomers (60 percent). Among people aged 67 or older, saving for a rainy day was the number-one response (51 percent), and paying off debt was number two (44 percent).

ABOUT ME

Demographer and editorial director of New Strategist Press, Cheryl Russell is the former editor-in-chief of American Demographics magazine and The Boomer Report. She has written numerous books about demographic trends. Ms. Russell is a professional demographer with a master's degree from Cornell University.